The Runaways
by BiteMarksonHertongue
Summary: AU featuring young Regina (and others) the story of a girl who ran away from her troubled life..rated M for violence,some trigger warnings.
1. Chapter 1

Authors note:

Hello, before you begin reading I would like to point out a few things:

Firstly I do not support running away from home that is very dangerous.

This one is a bit different from my other 2 fics

In This fic they are younger !

Although this is a magical AU it's not fairytale-ish (sorry)and there are trigger warnings in this fic okay.

Abuse, (physical,mental), drugs,(being drugged)

For now.

Um the ratings M bc of the violence that will be happening in up coming chapters

Quick thank you to my beta angel Melis love you for taking time out of your busy days to beta this!

Also don't get attached to the characters anyone's up for grabs.

Remember not to trust anyone.

Sorry in advance ...

The Runaways - Chapter 1

It's hot. It is the hottest day of the year by far, and everyone in this God forsaken small town seem to be gathering at Leroy's diner. Just fantastic, Regina thinks to herself. She goes table to table taking orders, she hastily walks behind the counter and places the orders in. The thick smell of grease fills the air as small beads of sweat begin forming on her brow. Taking a moment to clean the sweat off her brow with her forearm, she wipes it with the side of her peach colored uniform. The small chatter of the customers becomes white noise as she loses herself in her train of thoughts, I just need to make a hundred more before my birthday and-

Soda begins running down her hand and all over the counter as it overflows, interrupting her thoughts. Leroy slams the order up bell a few times before leaning his head through the pass-through.

"Hey, Your Majesty! I ain't paying you to daydream, let's get these orders out."

Throwing towels over the spilt soda, "Where the hell is Daisy?" she hisses and grabs the hot plates from the pass-through. As if on cue, the chime on the door rings as a petite blond runs in, pulling her golden locks into a messy ponytail and she quickly ties an apron around her waist.

"It's about goddamn time, Goldilocks," Leroy shouts at Daisy as she punches her time-card. "clean this mess." pointing at the soda-drenched towels with his greasy spatula. "And then help picking up the slack Her Majesty has going on here."

A few hours pass and as the temperature drops, things begin to slow down for the night. The girls start cleaning the silverware and glasses. Daisy makes her way over to where Regina stands at the counter with a cleaning rag, grabs the ketchup from underneath the counter, she starts filling the empty containers.

"I'm really sorry for being late earlier," She starts in her thick Southern accent as she reaches for another empty container, "it was just so hot this mornin' and James and I thought it would be nice to, you know, go down to the lake for a bit.."

Not really listening to her, Regina just gives out a hmm once in a while as she finishes up with the cleaning. It's not that she doesn't like the girl, it's just she can't stand to hear another one of her stories about her 'perfect' Jock boyfriend and if Daisy were to tell her where her latest hickey ended up appearing one more time, she was going to flip.

She tunes back into the conversation when she hears a question directed towards her. "I'm sorry, what was that?" She asks, now facing Daisy.

Daisy gives a kind smile before repeating herself. "I asked how in the earth do you stand to wear long sleeves under these uniforms all the time, especially on a day like this?" She reaches over, and pinches the white fabric of her sleeve. "You must be hotter than a pig under there."

Regina's face turns pale as her stomach drops and she pulls her arm back away from Daisy. Her thoughts go a mile away for a minute. Does she know, what would happen if I told, would she believe me- before she could even answer herself, the bell above the door rings. The girls look towards the door in unison. It's the same guy that came in twice earlier this week. He's not from around here, for sure. Everyone knows everyone in this town.

He's wearing the same beige trench coat and brown hat. He walks over and sits in the same booth as he did twice before.

Looking over to the clock, it's about a half hour before her shift ends, Regina realizes, and he's a good tipper "I got it." She tosses the cleaning rag at Daisy, and grabbing her pad and pencil, she heads towards the out-of-towner.

"What can I get for you, sir?" She asks, looking down at her pad, ready to write.

"Sydney." The man says, pulling her attention. Regina knits her brows, trying to understand what he older man laughs, crinkles form under his dark brown eyes. "My name is Sydney, calling me sir makes me feel old."

Regina cracks a small smile at the comment.

"Ah, is that a smile I'm seeing there? You're such a beautiful young lady, you should smile more often." His gaze falls upon her, and although his words are kind, the way he's looking at her makes her feel uneasy.

Clearing her throat she changes the subject.

"So what can I get you, Sydney." She asks again, tripping over her her words a bit. He gives her his order and she walks away, still feeling his gaze on her.

Before coming back to his table to hand him his plate, she glances at the clock one more time. Only ten more minutes.

She heads back to find Leroy and finds him scraping the remains of dried grease off the grill. He looks up at her for a second before going back to what he was doing. Letting a out a huff of annoyance, he asks. "What can I do for you, Your Majesty?"

Looking down, she starts toying with the string of her apron. "Well, my shift just ended and it's payday."

Tossing the scrapper in the sink, making a noise that makes Regina flinch, Leroy walks pass her back out to the dinning area. He opens the cash register and after grabbing a hand full of cash, he slams it shut.

He licks his thumb and starts counting. "Here," he says shoving some bills at her. "and don't think about leaving until you clean that booth you served. You serve, you clean. You know the rules." He tells her before making his way back to the kitchen.

Shoving the cash that she was just handed in her pocket, she walks to the now empty booth. She looks at the bill and the cash that's left with it. Exact change. No tip! Son of a bitch, she thinks to herself, clenching her teeth. She places the money in the register, grabbing a rag to wipe down the booth on her way back. Picking up the empty plate, Regina's eyes go wide. There's a crisped hundred dollar bill with a note.

A young lady as beautiful as you should have something more to smile about.

-Sydney

Putting the bill into her pocket, next to the rest of the money, she looks around the mostly empty diner, making sure no one else has seen what she has found.

After finishing up, she bids Daisy goodbye and grabs her red bicycle that was parked up against the back door of the diner. Breathing in the fresh summer night air, she gets on, making her way home.

Regina curses herself as she looks at her watch when she hits the dusty driveway of the worn-out foster home. She's late. Taking the more scenic route was an awful idea.

Leo and Ava Blanchard had taken Regina in when she was ten. Although at first they seemed kind and caring, Regina quickly realized she was just a form of paycheck for the couple. They were not really paying her any attention, acting like she never existed most of the time. And when their friends came to visit, she was locked in her room and supposed to not make a sound.

Regina just thought that it was better than bouncing from home to home every month, so she did what she was told. It was when the wife had untimely died in a car accident, things got unbearable.

And in a few weeks she is going to be free. That's what she keeps telling herself. That's what keeps her going.

Walking into the house, she hears the loud sound of tv in the living room. The storm door gives a little thud behind her. The smell of cigarettes burn her nose as she breathes, empty beer bottles and cans that are laying around the ground with bits of garbage catch her eye. She picks up what she can and makes her way to the kitchen.

Throwing the bottles in the garbage, she rolls up her sleeves and starts on the sink full of dishes.

"You're late." He says behind her, slurring his words a bit. She looks over to the hallway to find Leo leaning against the wall, taking a pull on his cigarette. He is drunk as always, looking disheveled, his white tee has a couple of stains on it and his grey hair messy, his beard grown out a little, green eyes blood shot.

"It was a busy day." She states and goes back to doing the dishes.

"I didn't ask for an excuse." He growls at her, walking to the fridge grabbing another beer.

"Then don't say anything." Regina mumbles to herself while drying a dish, not realizing she has said it loud enough for him to hear.

He gets behind her quickly, pinning her body to the counter with his body.

"What was that, bitch?" He hisses into her ear, taking the lit end of the cigarette and placing it near her neck. Regina's heart sinks. His breath reeks of beer and smoke. His hand travels slowly up and down her side almost like a caress and she feels bile rise in her throat.

She swallows hard, not knowing what to do. "Not so smart now, are you?" Pressing the fag-end to her neck, "Let that be a reminder for you to keep your mouth fucking shut!" he shouts.

Regina hisses with pain and drops the plate, causing it to shatter into pieces.

Leo slams his beer on the counter, spilling it all over the place. "Un-fucking-believable!" He bawls. "Fucking usless little whore." Grabbing a fist of her hair, he pulls her down to the floor, kneeling over her, he presses her face to the glass and spilt beer, slicing her upper lip open. "Clean this shit up and make me something to eat." He spits at her, letting her go with a shove.

Tasting her own blood, Regina feels anger course through her body like lighting a match. "No." She says barely above a whisper, her knees hurt from the broken glass that's sticking into her flesh.

Her answer stops him dead in his tracks. Turning on his heels, staring at her with his emerald eyes as cold as ice, causing a shiver to run down her spine he asks. "What did you say?"

Regina scrambles to her feet, backing once again to the counter gripping it with her hands. He comes at her stumbling, nose to nose, huffing with anger.

Not backing down this time, she grips the counter a little tighter as if it was giving her strength.

"I said- I said no!" She says forcefully but still trembling a bit.

WACK!

Regina could swear she sees stars as Leo's hand makes contact with the side of her face. She hears a slight ringing in her ears as her eyes come into focus. She sees him raises his hand to her again, closing her eyes and flinching, she lifts her arm to block him. Only this time instead of feeling his hand on her again it comes with a crash.

Slowly she opens one eye and then another. Her pulse quickens as she sees Leo laying in a pile of wood that used to be the kitchen table, bleeding from a gouge in his head. Her hands start shaking, she looks at them seeing a tinge of what looks like purple at her fingertips. She blinks and in a second, the coloring is gone.

I must be going crazy. She thinks. Hallucinating from the adrenaline rush I just had. Yeah that must be it.

A slight stir from Leo catches her attention. Her heart stops.

He's gonna kill me, she thinks as she begins pacing around the kitchen, trying to figure out what to do. There's only one thing she can do now. Run.

Running into her room, picking up her nap sack and throwing it on her bed, she grabs a few clothes. Lifting up a loose floorboard, she grabs an old coffee can filled with the money she's been it all into the bag and grabbing it all at once, she rushes back to the kitchen, a few throws a few apples into the bag for good measure. She stops to look at Leo one last time before leaving.

"Bastard." And with that, she takes her bicycle and leaves.

With the wind running through her hair, she feels her heart racing as she keeps pedaling. Everything is a blur. Dawn is approaching. The sky is turning a shade of pink, orange and gold, and she doesn't know where she is going but she is going. That is until her bike hits a pothole, flying her off, breaking the front wheel in the process and scraping her knees and elbows. At least she has made it a couple of towns over.

She sees a gas station and a few stores ahead and disposing what's left of her bike on the side of the road, she heads to the gas station.

Walking in, she asks if they have a rest room. The teen boy, not even acknowledging her as he is too fixated in his comic, points at the door on the far right corner of the store, holding out the key.

Switching the light on and locking the door behind her, Regina grimaces at the smell of urine and graffiti covered walls. Not that she has a choice anyway, so she sheds her torn and blood filled uniform after turning on the faucet and grabbing a few paper towels, she tries to tend the cuts on her knees. It's nothing she hadn't had to do before, carefully, she starts taking out the little pieces of glass here and there.

She finally musters up the courage to look in the mirror to see the damage on her face. Her breath hitches as she takes in the sight, wiping up the blood that stained her olive skin around her full lips, careful not to disturb the cut as she goes. It's going to leave a scar, she knows it. She winces when her hand brushes against her cheek and looking closer into the dirty mirror, she sees a bruise forming. Letting her long ebony locks cover it, so no one could see the bruise, she quickly finishes up.

Heading back to hand the teen boy the bathroom key, she places it on the counter and thanks him. When she asks where the nearest bus stop is, the boy, again, doesn't look at her and points at the other side of the road.

She sits on the bench for what seems like hours, waiting for the bus, looking in her bag for one of the apples she has tossed in. A couple of people shouting catches her attention. An older man hustles a teen about her age to the street, calling her a thief and telling her never to come into his store again. The teen gets up, dusting herself off, gives the man a few hand gestures when he turns away from her. Making her way to the bench, she pulls her long blonde hair into a pony and plops down next to Regina with an 'umph'. Eyeing Regina, she lets out a half ass laugh, "Rough morning too?"

"You have no idea." Regina nods, pulling out an apple, getting ready to take a bite, until she sees the girl eyeing her apple hungrily. She pulls out another one and hands it to her. The girl all but grabs the fruit and inhales it. Taking a second to chew, she gives out her hand. "Emma."

Regina shakes her hand with a small smile. "I'm Regina."

They sit together, waiting for the bus, eating their apples, not knowing where they're going next.

Love to hear your thoughts


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello there! I'am so sorry that it's taken so long for an update, it's a little short but please review I would love to hear your thoughts! This is un-beta-ed sorry but it's about 2am here so! Enjoy.. And I'm sorry in advance you'll see..**

 _Chapter 2:_

 _She's lost._

 _it's dark and quiet,The only sound is of her shoes hitting the wet pavement echoing throughout the empty street. her hands wrap around her chest pulling on her shirt tighter guarding herself, but No one is around._

 _There's only one street light lit and she'd lost Emma. She doesn't know where or what town she's in at this point. Her heart starts pounding. They took so many busses not really caring where they were going, and now she doesn't know which way is up._

 _Looking around the unfamiliar territory something catches her eyes. There's a figure lurking in the shadows moving towards her eyes struggling to see, but it's to dark._

 _"Emma?" She calls out to it. The figure doesn't say anything but makes its way closer._

 _"Emma?"_

 _She sucks her teeth, not really in the mood for games "This isn't funny!"._

 _Still No answer._

 _Her palms start to sweat,she wants to move,She can't feel her legs to start running. The figure stops walking underneath the street light reveling its self. She can't make out a face but It wore a brown trench coat and hat. Where have I seen that before she thinks to herself frantically searching her mind for the answer. As the person gets closer and closer,she figures it out. The out-of-towner at the diner. Shit what was his name? Sounded like a girls name "sandy?" No that's not it "s-something" God damn it Regina pull it together "s-Sydney!" That's it._

 _Now standing in front of her,_

 _"Sydney?"_

 _The figure looked dark brown eyes, her heart sank as her eyes met with green bloodshot eyes instead. Giving her a malice smile,_

 _"What's the matter R_ egina?" He reaches up to touch her face,"Didn't think I'd find you?" Moving forward as she stumbles backwards, corse gravel digs in to her skin as she caught herself from falling completely backwards.

"I-I thought you would be dead." She stutters pushing herself back with every step he takes forward.

 _"Tsk-Tsk, you should have known better then that Regina." He mocks her as he makes his way closer. He goes to to grab her but she's to fast and slips out of reach._

 _"Fuck!" He lets out in a growl._

 _Tripping a little she makes her way down an alleyway._

 _It's a dead end._

 _Looking back from behind a grimy dumpster she finds Leo slowly walking down the alley dragging a knife across the brick building._

 _"You know? There's really no point of running Regina," he says pulling the knife to his mouth giving it a little huff before cleaning it wth the sleeve of his coat. "I'll always find a pretty little whore like you," he gave a sickly laugh causing a shiver to run down her spine ."if you come out now, I promise this won't hurt..to much." He says toying with the knife._

 _Regina holds her breath,as she slowly moves down the side with her back pressed firmly against the building tracing the brick with her fingers. When her hand came in contact with something not corse but smooth and round tears started welling in her eyes._

 _Please be unlocked,please be unlocked she inwardly begs to whatever gods are up there as she slowly try's turning the knob._

 _It is,_

 _quickly slipping inside and locking the door,She lets out a sob of relief. Pressing her forehead to the door, taking a in deep breath._

 _The familiar smell of cigarettes burn her nostrils._

 _She slowly turns around, the low murmur of the news is in the background. Garbage and beer bottles and cans laid all over the forest green carpeting._

 _Not really believing what she's seeing she rushes to the kitchen._

 _A pile dishes lay untouched in the sink. The kitchen table intact._

 _This cannot be happening. Her world starts spinning, sweat begins to form on her brow._

 _"You're late." Leo said leaning on the door frame. Pressing his index to the tip of the knife twirling it._

 _No longer wearing the trench coat and hat he's back in his worn out jeans and t-shirt._

 _Regina quickly runs to the back door and frantically pulling on the bronze knob trying to open it. Looking up she sees long rusted nails sticking out every which way keeping the door from opening._

 _"Noo no come on.."she pleads with the door, before she bangs on it with all her might leaving traces of blood from her knuckles "HELP, SOMEONE PLEASE! HELP ME!"_

 _"You know no one can hear you Regina,"_

 _Turning back to him, She could feel her skin crawl as she met his hungry gaze. Swallowing hard as Bile rises in her throat,her heart starts racing. Shifting her gaze between the small gap to the living room and Leo she Decides to make a break for it and slip past Leo like she did so many times before, only she's not so lucky this time._

 _Anticipating her move He Grabs her by her arms and slams her in to the wall with such a force knocking the wind out of her._

 _She sinks to the floor her hand over her chest, gripping her flannel shirt gasping for breath._

 _He leaves her there for a moment walking over to the counter yanking one of the draws open rummaging for something._

 _While she's trying to ease her breathing,she turns on her stomach and grips the forest green carpet pulling her body across the floor in an attempt to make an escape._

 _Still not fast enough Leo Grabs her by her ankles he pulls her back into the kitchen Scrapping her nails against the lament floor._

 _Taking black cable wires he binds her hands behind her back before turning her over, with a smug grin on his face._

 _Regina gets one of her legs loose pulls it back and kicks Leo right in the face, causing his mouth to bleed._

 _Tasting the tangy copper of Leo becomes Furious wipping the blood off watching it as it drips from his gets up and slams his foot in to her stomach repeatedly. "Fucking bitch"_

 _Tears staining her cheeks as they flowed from her eyes. Letting out hard sobs and sounds of agony,As he shifts his body between her legs. Holding her down with one arm._

 _"Now, now Regina.." He mockingly chastised her. Pressing the cold sharp blade to her neck, before dragging it and cutting her shirt open, exposing her breast._

 _"You know how much I love it when you fight me.." He whispers in her ear, before taking a bite of her shoulder._

 _Regina lets out a cry of pain. She cant believe this is happening again, "please stop.." She begs barely above a whisper her voice cracking a bit as he reaches for his belt buckle, she knows it's no use, it's happened before,but she always has a the tiniest shred of hope stored in the of her mind._

 _Turning her face a way she shuts her tear filled eyes,Her body is tired. Tired of fighting, tired of running, she's given up._

 _"Please.." She whispers almost as a prayer. When her body jumps almost like a hiccup._

"Regina.."

"Regina..?, Regina wake up!" A female voice calls for her.

Regina's eyes flew open, as her body jolted forward gasping for breath. Her hair was dampened by sweat, her face flush and her heart still racing as she takes in her surroundings.

Her chocolate brown eyes finally met Emma's aquamarine ones filled with worry and questions.

"Hey are you okay?.." She asks handing Regina an opened water bottle."You fell asleep a few stops back and-"

"You ladies need to get gone now this is the last stop of the night.." The rundown elderly bus driver shouted back.

The two girls looked around and noticed they were the only ones left.

Emma gave the driver a nod and slid out of the booth stepping back a bit waiting on Regina to head out first.

Regina gave a small smile and a thank you as she quickly made her way out, the warm night breeze Engulfed her as she sucked in a deep breath. "It was a only a dream." She said to herself as Emma came up behind her.

"Hey about before are you sure you're okay, I mean you looked-"

"I'm fine." Regina hissed cutting Emma off avoiding the topic all together,knitting her brows in confusion."Where the hell are we?"

Emma surveys the area before digging in her jacket pocket,pulling out a map they picked up a few towns back.

After studying it for a moment, Emma looks up pushing her thick black glasses up the bridge of her nose. Turning to Regina giving her a mischievous grin "Come on!" She nods before taking off down the road.

Regina hesitates for a moment biting on her bottom lip.

Emma stops turning back to Regina throwing her Hands up as in a silent 'are you coming'. Waiting for her to catch up before taking off again together.

Out of breath Regina is hunched over with her hands on her knees,"You want...to tell me.. What that was all about?!"

"Stand right,..Emma reaches and Pulls Regina over a few steps,"here.."

Becoming more irritated and rolling her eyes Regina asks "Why?"

Emma lets out a half hearted laugh,slugging her arm over Regina pointing to a 'now leaving sign' to their right.

"Well toto I don't think we're in Kansas anymore _.."_ She joked.

Lost for words Regina just stands there. Her thoughts going wild, she had been waiting for this moment almost all her life and now here it is. A single tear escaped when she felt the weight of the world being lifted off her shoulders,by an invisible state line. Giving Emma a smile she lets out a breathy sigh turning both of them to the empty road,

"What are we waiting for then?, lets go.."


End file.
